Gun charges put Columbia gang member in prison for 7 years

After pleading guilty to federal firearms charges, a known Bloods Gang member from Columbia was sentenced to 85 months in prison plus 3 years of probation in federal court, the U.S. attorney for South Carolina said Wednesday in a news release.

Kershaw County deputies captured Jaquel Sumter on Jan. 21, 2017, after a high-speed chase on I-20 that ended in Richland County when he and three others jumped from the stolen car they were driving and fled into nearby woods. A fully automatic weapon was found in the car, U.S. Attorney Beth Drake said.

The 23-year-old Columbia man, who plastered his gansta persona all over his Facebook page, pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with with a filed off serial number in federal court on Wednesday.

Despite a long rap sheet of 13 convictions between 2004 and 2017 for crimes including burglary, assault and battery, disturbing schools, possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon, Sumter has spent little time in jail, the government said during the sentencing hearing.

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At the time of the high speed chase that led to his capture, Sumter was fleeing a 15-month sentence following conviction in Richland County on a charge of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, prosecutors said.